Visitation Plan at Jaquiri Indigenous Territory is supported by Mamirauá Institute and Uakari Lodge
Uakari Lodge | Mamirauá Reserve | Amazon – Brazil
Among the Kambebas, from the indigenous Jaquiri territory at Mamirauá Reserve, 47 of the 49 people who live in the small community attend school. “The other two are still very much babies,” explains André da Cruz, general coordinator of the Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Middle Amazon River. Attendance at kambeba classes is part of a collective effort among the community to recover and strengthen indigenous traditions, which, despite resisting, have gone through a process of forgetfulness during the last centuries due to the colonization of the region.
In addition, the community-based Tourism Program of the Mamirauá Institute held a meeting with residents from Jaquiri community, to proceed with the preparation of a visitation plan, from which the community could start receiving interested tourists at Uakari Lodge to know the way of life and traditions of the kambeba ethnic group.
The idea is that the visitation plan can also unite communities of the same ethnicity.
The plan
The visitation plan is a requirement of the Brazilian National Indigenous Foundation to carry out tourism projects on indigenous lands. The document will establish rules and guide the activities so that the community can welcome people from different countries and show the Kambeba culture, besides gaining an alternative to increase the income of the community. When the process is completed, the community will be able to receive tourists staying at Uakari Lodge.
João Fernandes Cruz, the local ‘tuxaua’ (elected leadership by the village people) of Jaquiri, understands that tourism can benefit the community in different ways. “This can strengthen our identity as indigenous, the protection of our land, our income. We hope that this plan will be able to improve more and more the integration of the society with the indigenous population of the region”.
(Credits: Bernardo Oliveira)
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